MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021 SOMETHING DIFFERENT!!

 MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021 SOMETHING DIFFERENT!!

I want to try something different this week - simple morality or situational stories - using an old master - AESOP.

The City Mouse and the Country Mouse

A Town Mouse once visited a relative who lived in the country. For lunch, the Country Mouse served wheat stalks, roots, and acorns, with a dash of cold water for drink. The Town Mouse ate very sparingly, nibbling a little of this and a little of that, and by her manner making it very plain that she ate the simple food only to be polite.

After the meal the friends had a long talk, or rather the Town Mouse talked about her life in the city while the Country Mouse listened. They then went to bed in a cozy nest in the hedgerow and slept in quiet and comfort until morning. In her sleep, the Country Mouse dreamed she was a Town Mouse with all the luxuries and delights of city life that her friend had described for her. So the next day when the Town Mouse asked the Country Mouse to go home with her to the city, she gladly said yes.

When they reached the mansion in which the Town Mouse lived, they found on the table in the dining room the leavings of a very fine banquet. There were sweetmeats and jellies, pastries, delicious cheeses, indeed, the most tempting foods that a Mouse can imagine. But just as the Country Mouse was about to nibble a dainty bit of pastry, she heard a Cat mew loudly and scratch at the door. In great fear the Mice scurried to a hiding place, where they lay quite still for a long time, hardly daring to breathe. When at last they ventured back to the feast, the door opened suddenly, and in came the servants to clear the table, followed by the House Dog.

The Country Mouse stopped in the Town Mouse's den only long enough to pick up her carpetbag and umbrella.

"You may have luxuries and dainties that I have not," she said as she hurried away, "but I prefer my plain food and simple life in the country with the peace and security that go with it."

*****

Aesop said, “Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty.  

Do you agree with Aesop?  At what point do the risks outweigh the benefits? I think we all have some tolerance to risks that go with the situation.  The city mouse does have luxuries that the country mouse doesn’t have.  The city mouse is indoors - no hot or cold days, no rain, and rough food.   The country mouse may or may not be safe from cats, dogs, and humans.  Most farms that I know have barn cats to keep the mouse population under control.  

I know people who worked in New York City and took commuter trains for an hour (or longer) in the morning and again in the afternoon.  For me, two hours a day commuting is too much, but for them, it is their normal life.  Their risk (of a long train ride twice a day), is met by higher wages.   

*****

Belling the cat

The Mice once called a meeting to decide on a plan to free themselves of their enemy, the Cat. At least they wished to find some way of knowing when she was coming, so they might have time to run away. Indeed, something had to be done, for they lived in such constant fear of her claws that they hardly dared stir from their dens by night or day.

Many plans were discussed, but none of them was thought good enough. At last, a very young Mouse got up and said:

"I have a plan that seems very simple, but I know it will be successful.

All we have to do is to hang a bell about the Cat's neck. When we hear the bell ringing we will know immediately that our enemy is coming."

All the Mice were much surprised that they had not thought of such a plan before. But in the midst of the rejoicing over their good fortune, an old Mouse arose and said:

"I will say that the plan of the young Mouse is very good. But let me ask one question: Who will bell the Cat?"

Aesop’s answer. It is one thing to say that something should be done, but quite a different matter to do it.  But, in ‘modern times and with human (or robotic) help, the mice could get the cat in a cage, put a muzzle on the cat, and put a bell on it.

 

*****

Not wanting to make a political discussion, but there are many political issues that might be similar - such as COVID.  Some of the mice might say, “We can’t stop (or bell) COVID”, while others say, ‘If we ALL get vaccinated, if we ALL, wear masks and wash our hands, stay isolated, we can stop COVID.

We’ll look at more fables tomorrow!!!

LOVE WINS!!!

Karen